CLOSE TO THE EDGE

It is groundless to question this album integrity as a masterpiece. In terms of songs, musicianships, performances, and also production, it is flawless.

The title track, an 18-plus-minute epic, serves marvelously as an opener. A long composition yet well-structured, it is perfectly showcasing the musical, lyrical and sonic culmination of all that Yes had done previously. The song flows seamlessly, starting from the very short water-ripple-singing-birds segment within the intro to the ending part where, after Jon Anderson sings "I get up I get down", (again) enter the water-ripple- singing-birds accompanied by Rick Wakeman's synthesizer/organ screaming. The movement is so intense and tight, building up ever-quirky moments, while the interplay of each instrument runs fiercely.

Two relatively shorter songs follow, the majestic "And You And I" and the lively "Siberian Khatru", both mercilessly extend the musical orgasm one already experienced from previous track. Again, the instruments -- Steve Howe's guitars, Wakeman's keyboards, Bill Bruford's drums and Chris Squire's bass -- played masterfully with the intention of creating dense, multi-layered sonic collage, while the vocal harmonies provide wonderful sketches along the way. These facts leave no traces to which critics or skeptics would gladly attack.

While admitting that taste differences will lead to different conclusions, all remarkable elements mentioned above are so clear for everyone to capture of and agree upon, accordingly, that this album is a work of geniuses.